VIOLENCE HITS US WITH SHOOTINGS

The shootings of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
in Mexico on Tuesday were tragic and heartbreaking. Agent Jaime
Zapata, from Laredo, was killed. And El Paso-based Agent Victor Avila
was wounded. The shootings hit close to home.

Tragic? Heartbreaking? Yes. But not unexpected.

This country is at war in Mexico, just as surely as the U.S. is at war
in Afghanistan. And the tragedy of war is that there will be casualties.

Most Americans know that there is a drug war going on in Mexico, but
probably not many realize the depth of American involvement in that
war. A number of U.S. law-enforcement agencies have a presence in
Mexico, including ICE, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and no
doubt others. Of necessity, much or most of their work is covert or at
least low-profile.

But make no mistake: We are at war, and that war has now hit home in a
way we haven't seen since 1985, when DEA Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena
was tortured and killed in Mexico.

U.S. participation in Mexico's drug war isn't limited to throwing
money at the problem through the Merida Initiative. It's not just a
matter of training Mexican law-enforcement officers. It's not just
diplomatic maneuvering.

The United States has people on the front lines, in the trenches, of
this war. Their lives are in danger, as demonstrated by Tuesday's shootings.

Now the question is, how will the shootings of the ICE agents affect
American involvement in Mexico? Is this the catalyst for more
aggressive efforts by the U.S., the dispatching of more personnel to
Mexico? How much more U.S. involvement would Mexico
countenance?

Questions swirl, particularly because it appears that drug
cartel-related violence is still increasing in Mexico and along the
border. Recently, two El Paso teens were gunned down in Juarez; a
missionary's wife was shot and killed in northern Mexico; a Border
Patrol agent was killed in Arizona; and an Arizona rancher was killed
near the border.

Mexican authorities are helpless, either through incompetence,
inability or possibly complicity with the criminals.

Meanwhile, American lives are on the line.